For well over a year, my organization, the American Society of Travel Advisors (ASTA), has tried to thwart American Airlines’ abusive attempt to force AA fliers and travel agencies to use its underdeveloped technology, the New Distribution Capability (NDC) booking platform.
In less than a month, millions of American Airlines customers will no longer receive AAdvantage rewards unless they book directly through AA owned or preferred channels. This is the latest move by the airline to force travelers to use booking tools that lead to reduced consumer choice, fluctuating prices, and record airline profits.
The World Travel Agents Associations Alliance (WTAAA), Association of Canadian Travel Agencies and Travel Advisors (ACTA), and Foro Latinoamericano de Turismo (FOLATUR) have joined the American Society of Travel Advisors (ASTA) in sounding the alarm about American Airlines’ latest ploy to force travelers to use AA’s new, proprietary booking tool that leads to reduced consumer choice and higher costs.
American Airlines sent shockwaves through the travel industry earlier this month when it announced that only those consumers booking direct or through preferred agencies will be able to earn loyalty points through its AAdvantage program, and that preferred agencies will only keep that status if they met certain NDC thresholds.
American Airlines recently announced new restrictions on point allocation based on how you book a flight. What does that mean for loyalty members?
It is no secret that American wants everyone to book directly with the airline. It has said that travelers prefer the direct booking experience better, but it has begrudgingly allowed travel agents to continue selling tickets at the same fares as long as they adopt the newer NDC standard. Since it was going to allow agency bookings to continue, it tried to benefit by paying lip service to the idea that travelers should be able to book where they want to book. Last week’s news that American will no longer allow non-preferred travel agency bookings to earn miles shows that American is done pretending that’s the case.
American Airlines is changing its rules for earning AAdvantage frequent flyer miles, a move that will reward consumers who book directly on its website and those who book through agencies that have a new distribution capability (NDC) connection.
American Airlines announced today that they will stop awarding miles on tickets booked through most third party travel agencies starting in May. Basic economy fares will only earn miles if booked directly through American. However AAdvantage Business members and corporate contract travelers will be exempt from this policy.
In an exclusive, the leading group of U.S. travel advisors responds to claims by American Airlines that they’re Luddites. The group says the carrier’s effort to force them to adopt its preferred technology for booking flights is too fast and that, essentially, it’s a bully.
